goddess #9

"golden canopy

crab apple windfall

pond view

perfect!"

On the cusp of Scorpio, between my 2nd son's birthday and my father's, I was drawn to thoughts of generations, the flow of ancestors endlessly flowing backward and forward through me and through time.  I planted this mother goddess near Jamaica Pond where I first landed in Boston and where we played when my boys were young.

"may all beings realize their own awakened nature"

goddess #8

"Victory Gardens

exuberant still in autumn sun . . .

thank you to the makers

May we all touch our creative energy and open to the joy of letting it flow."

She stands nestled in the trunk of a Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia Glyptost Obides) that according to a small plaque was planted in 1987 in friendship and loving memory of Gerald A. Flynn (1939-1986) by his friends M. Jeff Zirpolo, Mark Davol, and Richard Orarco.

A passerby told me that Gerald had a huge vegetable garden here, at the edge of the water, and  that he donated vegetables to Meals-on-Wheels and the program that provided meals to those ill with HIV/AIDS.

 

The Victory Gardens has always been a favorite spot for me. Walking through it today took me back to when I walked its narrow paths ripe with child, soaking in the sun and nourished by the visual richness of this patchwork of gardens. I couldn't resist taking lots more photos of the gardens.

 

goddess #7

"autumn brilliant

alive to wind and sun

two strong legs

eyes to see

body being breathed . . .

enough!"

Today, drawn again to hospital grounds . . . this time Franklin Park near the Shattuck . . . a hospital of last resort - a place for people suffering homelessness, addiction, mental illness . . . leaves vibrant in the autumn sun, bright blue sky . . . the ground littered with empty bottles and broken glass - permeated with suffering and the search for solace . . . I am keenly aware of the suffering of those for whom there is never enough to fill the void, to soothe the pain, to bring peace to the fearful mind . . .

"may all beings be free of suffering

and the causes of suffering"

goddess #6

Walking through the site of the former Boston State Hospital, thinking of the lives lived there . . . and reflecting on August Wilson's amazing play "Fences" that I saw last night - I was filled with these words of the Buddha . . . "Life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind." . . . these words are written in goddess #6. She now lives among the brilliant autumn colors, wildflowers, and wildlife that have reclaimed the land of the former mental hospital that was the recipient of so much human suffering.